In order to be cognizant
of the city of Vilnius in detail - its individual monuments, streets, squares, and
buildings - one first has to look at the city in its entirety, i.e., at its overall
layout; one has to become familiar with the city's topography, with its natural
environmental conditions and elements, and to understand the factors which determined the
direction of the city's growth and expansion. Only then can one understand why, over the
course of history, Vilnius became exactly as it is and not otherwise - what determined its
profile, its distinctive and unparalleled beauty. The topographical terrain of Vilnius,
including the broad valley at the confluence of the two rivers, was the result of
long-term erosion by the Neris and the Vilnelė. Flowing from east to west, the Neris
River sculpted wide, multi-tiered terraces along its banks, and divided the city into two
parts: a large southern section, and a small northern one. The Vilnelė River gave the
city its name, and indicated where it should stand, for its alluvial deposits formed a
shallow ford and a convenient pathway from south to north, close to Pilies Hill. The
Vilnius valley is surrounded by fairly high hills on all sides - Šeškinė to the north,
Antakalnis and Belmontas to the east, Markučiai, Rasos, and Liepkalnis to the south, and
Vingriai, Velniai, Paneriai, and Karoliniškės to the west. The Vilnius Old Town as well
sits not on a flat plain, but arranged on smaller terraces which gradually descend into
the channels of the Neris and the Vilnelė. A chain of hills, made up of Pilies Hill on
one side of the Vilnelė River, and the rising Plikasis, Bekešo, Stalo, Gedimino Grave,
and Užupis Hills on the other, wedged its way from Antakalnis on the east into the centre
of the valley which makes up the Old Town. Encircling the Old Town, like points of a star,
large suburbs meander on the plains of larger terraces, and along the highways into the
heart of the city: in the east - Sereikiškės, Užupis, Paplavai, Subačius; in the south
- Rasos, Aštrusis Galas, and the Arklių marketplace; in the west - Rudninkai, Vingrių
and Velnių Hills, and the spacious suburb of Lukiškis; in the north - the Puškornia,
Šnipiškės, Žvejų suburbs; and Antakalnis, which stretches for several kilometres to
the northeast. From the top of the centrally located Pilies Hill one can see the entire
panorama of the city extending out to the horizon. From this spot, like a disorderly
spiderweb, runs the network of streets which make up the Old Town. And from the
surrounding hills, panoramas of the Old Town and the suburbs unfold as if on the palm of
one's hand, with every point revealing a new composition, and constantly changing
views. |
